This paper aims to investigate the associations between financial debt burden and suicidal behaviours (suicidal ideation, suicidal attempts, death by suicide and attempts or death by suicide). In addition to this, this study considers various influential factors, including cultural distinctions (comparing Western and non-Western countries), work-related stressors (such as the weekly working hours and the percentage of individuals with more than 49 working hours a week), income disparities (evaluating gross domestic product [GDP] and the differences between developed and developing nations) and the potential impact of lifestyle changes (considering the year of data collection).
This meta-analysis synthesizes findings from 15 studies published from 2010 to 2023 and indexed in the Web of Science’s social sciences citation index and science citation index expanded databases to illuminate these dynamics.
This study reveals that roughly 12 out of every 100 debtors had suicidal ideation. At the same time, approximately 13 out of every 100 attempted suicides and about 21 out of every 100 individuals burdened by debt died from suicides. A deeper dive into cultural contexts shows that non-Western cultures exhibit higher rates of suicidal behaviours than Western cultures. Notwithstanding, the comparison between developed and developing countries shows no significant differences in suicide behaviour rates.
The data is derived from a single database (Web of Science).
This study used meta-analysis as a method to investigate the associations between financial debt burden and suicidal behaviours.
